Most of us have come across the term primitive accumulation numerous times, especially while reading Marxist literature. Intuitively, we understand it as the process where the gentry or capitalists accumulate various resources, primarily land, often through nefarious means, which is then converted into capital. Marx himself dedicates several chapters at the end of the first volume of Capital exclusively to this topic.
But when, where, how, and why did primitive accumulation begin? Unsurprisingly, the roots of this phenomenon trace back to Europe, specifically England.
The transformation of rural England during the late medieval and early modern periods marked one of the most significant shifts in European, and eventually world, history. This era witnessed the widespread displacement of rural communities, the rise of urban centres, and an irreversible transformation in political economy and its accompanying social structure. Central to this upheaval was the privatisation of public lands, church lands, and the commons — the process of primitive accumulation of capital — and the decay of feudal relations.
The political economy of England was rapidly changing in the late medieval period. This naturally necessitated a change in the social order. For centuries, England’s rural communities thrived under the open-field system, where peasant families cultivated strips of fertile (arable) land for crops like cereals and vegetables. Surrounding these fields were the commons, shared lands used for grazing, gathering firewood, and sourcing essential resources. The commons were a fundamental part of the rural social and economic structure and ensured the survival of the rural poor, particularly smallholders and landless labourers. Even peasants and relatively well-to-do classes, such as the yeomanry, depended on the commons for sustenance. These relationships and structures began to crumble with the introduction of the Enclosure Acts. Starting in the 17th century and intensifying in the 18th and 19th centuries, these laws allowed wealthy landowners to privatise the commons, fencing off the lands for exclusive use. However, fertile arable lands were already being converted into pastures for sheep farming as far back as the 12th century, forcing those who depended on these lands to migrate as wage labourers with the rise of the wool industry in England.
The creation of the proletarian class, or the working class, was very systematic. It began with the dissolution of the feudal retainers — vassals who once managed lands and provided military service to feudal lords in exchange for protection. Think of knights, bailiffs, and the like. Standing armies were uncommon in medieval England, so it was these military retainers who fought for feudal lords during wars. By the 15th century, however, centralised royal power and the rise of standing armies rendered retainers obsolete. The lands used by retainers for farming were privatised, even though the feudal rights to these lands were reciprocal and not solely the lords’ to claim. These retainers were then forced to work as wage labourers for the same wealthy landlords.
Peasants, on the other hand, usually owned some land and comprised about 30–50% of the population by the 16th century. They relied heavily on the commons for resources. The privatisation of the commons stripped them of these essential resources, forcing many to abandon agriculture altogether. Similarly, the yeomanry, comprising around 15–20% of the population, experienced a sharp decline. Idealised in literature as the backbone of rural England, these independent farmers found themselves displaced as industrial-scale farming consolidated smaller plots into larger estates.
This systematic erosion of self-sufficient agricultural communities created a large population of landless labourers. Former peasants and smallholders were thrust into precarious wage-labour markets, where they faced uncertain employment and worsening living conditions.
Throughout this process, the State played a crucial role, favouring the gentry more often than not. The Statute of Labourers, the Reformation of the Catholic Church, and the so-called Glorious Revolution of 1688 are glaring examples. The Statute of Labourers (1351) capped wages and restricted labour mobility. At the time, there was a shortage of workers in England due to the Black Plague. As a result, able-bodied workers could demand higher wages. When this happened, the capitalists turned to the state for help, and the state, naturally, passed the Statute, criminalising demands for higher pay. This law remained in effect until as late as 1863.
The Reformation of the Catholic Church is another example of the state collaborating with the bourgeoisie. Catholic monasteries, which were significant landowners, had traditionally provided charity and communal access to land. The poor depended on this for their livelihood. But when King Henry VIII dissolved these institutions, their lands were gifted to capitalists loyal to him, who often enclosed and privatised them. Adding to this, Protestant ethics considered individual ‘hard work’, wealth accumulation, and capitalist consumption as virtues rather than sins. These ideals focused on individual faith and personal responsibility, aligning perfectly with a capitalistic worldview.
The Glorious Revolution (1688) marked a shift of power from the monarchy to a parliament dominated by the gentry (newly formed capitalist class). This ‘revolution’ led to large-scale sales of Crown and Church lands to wealthy landowners. The proceeds financed wars and colonial expansion but deepened rural displacement. During this time, the Bank of England was established. The state waged wars- both colonial and otherwise- to benefit the bourgeoisie by extending markets and acquiring cheap or free raw materials from colonies. To finance these wars, the state borrowed money from the bourgeoisie via the Bank of England. As state debt increased, it sold off more public lands to the same bourgeoisie at nominal rates. These lands had been essential for the rural population’s livelihood. Many displaced individuals migrated to urban centres in search of employment, contributing to the rise of industrial cities. There, they faced chronic low wages and deteriorating living standards.
The enclosure movement and the broader privatisation of land in late medieval and early modern England led to the displacement of a massive rural population, who then became wage labourers. This dismantled a centuries-old rural economy rooted in communal resources and small-scale farming, marking the decline of feudalism and the rise of capitalism. These landless wage labourers formed the basis for Britain’s colonialism, serving as soldiers, workers, and settlers. This process of primitive accumulation was then replicated in countries like France and Germany of Europe and then in the colonies like India.
